The Wilting Tree
by NewYear's Tragedy
Summary: Seven times fate brought them together. All of which in the same spot. He knew it represented what they had, but never what they lost. Naruto/Sakura. One-shot.


**The Wilting Tree**

_Nature's first green is gold..._

A child ran through the streets, his fear driving him away from the pursuing men and women shouting anger filled words at him. He rounded a street corner and cut it too sharp ending up sliding into a nearby trash can. The metal container clattered to the pavement as he scrambled to return to his feet. The voices were getting closer, he could hear them now.

"He went that way! Get him! Get that demon!" A deep voice shouted earning yells of outrage.

"You see what he did to the little girl?" Another spitted his lie filled words.

"I see him! Hurry! Get him! Get him while he's down!" The voices continued as he ran leaving them far, far behind.

He had lost them, for now, but yet his legs refused to stop. Fear pumping into his veins, he did not stop. He wanted to run and never stop. To run to a different place, a different city. This was not his home. It never was. Home was with your family and he had none. He could make a home, he thought rationally, his speed increasing with the silly thought.

Only when he slammed into something did he stop. He felt his body tumble forward as he landed flat on his back. He felt his head slide across the ground gathering tons of dirt into it. Years of savage beatings taught him to immediately to return to his feet. It was then he realized the force that stopped him was someone not something. Fear gnawed at his stomach as he debated whether to run or stay. However, a voice soon made that decision for him.

"Oww. Watch where you're going. You nearly killed me." A girl's voice told him harshly.

"I'm sorry-I didn't-I didn't see you." He answered his voice raspy from running.

"Are you blind or something because there is no way you could miss me." She pointed out, her eyes on him but her body facing away.

"Umm. Well, no. Hey what are you doing?" He asked watching her hunched over something.

"I'm planting me." She simply answered not caring to explain.

"You're planting you?" He asked skeptically.

"No, stupid." She told him and brought him closer to see a small plant sprouting from the ground.

"That's a plant. Not 'me'." He corrected her.

She rolled her eyes at his statement. "This is not a plant. It's a tree. A young tree and not just any tree, a sakura tree." She finished patting the dirt in around the stem before wiping her hands on her legs.

"My name is Sakura." She told him as he realized what she meant.

He pointed to himself. "I'm Naruto." He smiled feeling the fear disappear almost like it never existed in the first place.

"Why don't you move it behind the other trees?" He suggested pointing to the forest line.

"Because I want people to see it." She told him glancing around her at the people walking about in the distance.

"Yea, but it being out in the open is not safe. Someone could step on it. If you put it behind the other trees, they can protect it." He reasoned pointing to the tall oaks.

She bit her bottom lip in concentration deciding quietly to herself.

"Fine, but you have to help me move it." She agreed and started to claw at the dirt around the small sapling.

_Her hardest hue to hold..._

It had been years since he last saw the girl and the tree. That was until the academy. She however, ignored him like all the others. Almost like she didn't remember; she probably didn't. But he remembered her. In the end he decided not to approach her. It was better that way. Why ruin her life? Even if she did be nice to him, it would only cause the anger and hatred be directed to her.

He sat on the lonely swing by the academy building, staring down at his feet. He ignored the stares and hateful comments. He had already got used to it after twelve years of his life. Bringing his leg around the swing, he stood up and started walking. Where he was going? He did not know, nor did he care. He blocked out all sound from the villagers and continued his trek down gravel road. The surface of the road eventually changed to soft grass as he continued his slow walk, his hands deep in his pockets.

"What are you doing over here?" A voice asked with slight anger.

"Walking. What's it to ya?" He hissed angry at people constantly attacking him both verbally and physically.

"Just keep walking. Don't come back this way." The voice told him getting more distant.

"And why not-!" He stopped as his eyes rose to meet with green. "Sakura.." He muttered.

"How do you know my name?" She asked hesitantly taking a step back.

"We've met before." He said slowly, not completely sure he wanted to tell her the truth.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "No, we haven't."

"We planted your sakura tree, remember?" He pointed out taking a step closer to her.

She took a step back. "No, that was a different Naruto. He had dirty blonde hair."

He stared at her confused before he realized what she meant. Leaning down he picked up some dirt between the grasses and ran it through his blonde hair. He remembered he had fell to the forest floor when they first met and must have gotten dirty.

Her eyes widened in recognition before stepping towards him. "Come look at our tree."

"Our?" He asked confused.

"Yes. Because it was you who help save it from the elements and people." She told him motioning towards the tree's first spot that now had a building over it.

_Her early leaf's a flower..._

He sat his back against the bark of the cherry blossom tree waiting for her. Pink petals rained down on him when he shifted his weight as he smiled up at the tree. It was in full bloom and arguably one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

"What the heck are you smiling at?" A familiar voice questioned.

He rotated his head to see her watching his one eyebrow cocked.

"The tree." He answered pointing up at the blossoms.

"I can see that." She informed him before taking her place next to him. "You nervous?"

"About what?" He asked searching her eyes.

"Going away for two and a half years..?"

He sighed leaning into the tree, his eyes closed. "No, I guess not. I'm going to come back stronger than ever, you believe it!" He told her smiling to himself at the thought.

She rolled her eyes at his statement and turned away from him.

"Oh, and Sakura, before I go.. Can you do me a favor?" He asked.

She thought for a bit before finally agreeing. "Sure. Yea, shoot."

"Close your eyes." He said seriously.

"Ok. But I don't see how this helps me do a favor for you." She complied, her eyes shutting closed.

He glanced around him and their surroundings making sure no one was watching. Ever so slowly he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Not even a second after her eyes flew open glaring daggers at him.

"Uh, Sakura. I can explain.." He reasoned with her.

"Naruto.." She growled before he jumped to his feet and took off away from her with her in hot pursuit.

_But only so an hour..._

He tried to keep from sprinting towards the village gates. It had been so long, he yearned to see how much everyone had changed.

But first he had to stop by their tree. He wanted to see if it had changed. The blossom tree was still there, its limbs reaching towards the sky. The blossoms covering it were wilting about to fall to the ground.

"Such a short life, cherry blossoms." A heavenly voice said from behind him. "Some say they represent life because of how they only bloom once a year for a short time."

He turned around to face a girl who was all grown up. He smiled ear to ear just gazing at her. She was smiling too but not as crazily. He approached her slowly and she responded by throwing her arms around his neck.

"God, you look so different." She exclaimed in his ear.

"Well, how'd you know it was me?" He asked.

"Who else comes out here and stares at that tree smiling." She joked pulling back from his embrace.

"Well, I reminded me that I made a mistake two and a half years ago." He said to her becoming serious.

"And that was..?" She asked watching him intently.

"I didn't kiss you properly.."

_Then leaf subsides to leaf..._

"Did you hear? Konoha is at war!" A teenage chuunin yelled running past them into the very heart of the village.

The blonde headed man turned to his companion his eyebrow raised. The women at his side merely rolled her eyes and continued their walk with a step of her foot.

"It's nothing we can't handle." She told him.

He caught up to her and placed his hands behind his head staring up at the blue sky.

"The period of peace is over then, huh?" He observed in slight depression.

She glanced up at him. "It wouldn't last forever. You know that."

They stopped in the very same spot they stood so long ago. He dropped his arms, his eyes roaming over the cherry blossom tree. All the beautiful petals were gone by now. Instead the ground was covered with them. It was an eerie sight. Uneasiness filled him and he pulled out a kunai.

"Let's get started then." He smiled facing her.

_Then Eden sank to grief..._

"The line is breaking! Push them back!" An order rang out through the air.

With his katana he blocked another incoming blow from the enemy nin. Each thrust towards him was getting harder and harder as his opponent stood his ground.

Fighting was going on all around him: Metal clanging off of metal, blood spilling over the grass, screams of agony echoing off the surrounding trees, bodies lay still across the ground, friend and foe alike. The most horrible place in a battle..the front line.

"Shikamaru watch your back!" He called watching a Cloud nin run behind his friend with a kunai.

His concentration was deflected back to his own fight as the metal of a sword pierced the back of his leg. Pain exploded as his leg crumbled to the ground. He turned just in time to see another enemy nin had joined the fight. With kick from new opponent, he fell to his back. The previous Cloud nin brought his sword down on top of his stomach as he rolled over the nin's metal sinking into the ground. While on his back, he swung his katana into the Cloud nin's legs cutting them off knee down. The man shrieked in agony and fell to the ground clutching his legs. He knew the enemy soldier would bleed out soon enough. The blonde Leaf nin sat up attempting to stand up and rejoin the fight as a sharp blade rested across his throat. A hand clutched his hair pulling his head back exposing his neck.

"It's over for you, Leaf shinobi." The unknown man whispered to him.

He stared straight forward at a tree and with surprise he realized it was their tree. The battle must have brought the fight closer to it. He smiled glad it would be the last thing he saw. As the blade across his neck pressed down it was suddenly lifted. He turned just in time to see the man crumble over a kunai embedded deep into his head. Blood had flown from his skull and splattered over the cherry blossom tree. The tree stood, limbs like dark, rigid fingers coated in blood. His eyes left the tree to see the owner of the kunai. It was Sakura.

_So dawn goes down today..._

The vile smell of iron filled the wasteland of fallen shinobi. She was among them. Her body still filled with air and life but was steadily depleting. A hand crossed over her abdomen in a vain attempt to keep the blood from flowing freely. He still had never left her side throughout the chaos. He lay a few feet away, fallen like the others. His breathing returning to regular and with each breath life filled him. As consciousness tip toed over the edge of darkness, he found himself staring at their tree. It was completely wilted now, flames flickering and eating what was left of it. The smooth bark was now soot covered and the wood brittle. It was just another tragedy on this field.

"Sakura." He rasped out his voice thick with pain.

In took a few everlasting moments for her reply.

"Yes..? Naruto.." She answered her voice no longer the one he remembered.

His mind clicked when he realized he didn't know what he was going to tell her. That he had called her name just because it was the first thing to come to mind while looking at the tree.

Silence blanketed over the field for the longest time. He watched the smoke filled sky and the fading ambers the sides of his vision. His mind coming back together with the real world, he realized why he had called her name. A crackling snap silenced him as he edged his head to glance where the noise had come from. It was their tree. The fire had eaten its way through every part of it and now the wood had broken off and fallen to the ground. It was completely black like charcoal and no longer resembled anything close to a tree.

"Sakura, I love you. I'm sorry it took so long for me to say it." He said out into the air hoping the wind would carry his voice.

"Sakura..?" He called out again, focusing his eyes away from the tree to search for her.

He would never hear an answering voice.

_Nothing gold can stay..._


End file.
